Bath

ABSTRACT

A bath ( 100 ) comprises a support ( 1 ) of foamed polymeric material, substantially soft, suitable for defining a volume suitable for being filled with water or other liquid intended for sanitary purposes, characterised in that it further comprises a coating ( 2 ), for at least partly covering said support ( 1 ), said coating ( 2 ) being made mosaic-wise by a plurality of blocks ( 21 ), said blocks exhibiting structural stiffness higher than said support ( 1 ).

The present invention relates to an improved bath.

In the sanitary field, in particular in the household, a plurality oftypes of bath with the most varied shapes, dimensions and features isknown.

However, even if over the last years the use of more or less complextechnical details has become widespread, first of all the use of varioushydromassage systems, and shapes more or less different from theconventional one with rectangular plan are used, the known baths arealways limited to the simple conventional uses and made of the samematerials, mostly fibreglass or at most ceramic.

Such selection of the materials implies several limitations and problemsthat are felt in a more or less evident manner.

As is easily guessed, a first problem resulting from such baths isrelated to problems of accidents because the surface of known baths isparticularly hard but at the same time slippery when wet. As aconsequence, in the event of falls, the impact may be particularlyviolent, even with serious consequences for the user.

For the same reason, a certainly less serious problem is that related tothe poor comfort of the material, this being hard and even cold to thetouch.

In order to solve at least partly the two above problems, baths coatedwith padding of soft materials have been devised, however the mainproblem resulting from such a solution is related to a considerable wearand tear of the material and to the resulting washing difficulties.

Along with such problems, a further disadvantage of baths made accordingto the prior art is related to the fact of being difficult to processand transport.

In fact, it should be noted that the baths are made by mouldingprocesses, which therefore require considerable investments in themanufacture of the mould itself.

As a consequence, a high customisation of the bath shape is not possibleor at least it is not economically advantageous.

On the other hand as regards transport, the main problem relates to theweight of the bath that exhibits a mass which makes transport andinstallation thereof prohibitive.

Finally, a minor but still felt problem relates to the very poor thermalinsulation and soundproofing features of the prior art baths. As regardssoundproofing, it must be noted that often the neighbours do not likethe noise of pelting water that fills the bath, while as regards thethermal aspect, it is known that fibreglass has poor or null capacity ofthermal insulation and therefore it let the water heat spread to theexternal environment.

Thus, the technical problem at the basis of the present invention is toprovide a bath which should allow to solve the disadvantages mentionedabove with reference to the prior art.

Such problem is solved by a bath according to claim 1.

The present invention provides some important advantages. The mainadvantage consists in the fact that the bath according to the presentinvention allows a high protection from accidents further beingespecially pleasant on the body upon contact. Also transport andcustomisation of the shapes are easily made, since no materials withhigh specific weight or complex moulding operations are required.

Finally, the used materials also allow optimum thermal insulation andsoundproofing.

Further advantages, features and the methods of use of the presentinvention will appear clearly from the following detailed description ofsome embodiments thereof, given by way of illustrative and non-limitingexamples. Reference shall be made to the figures of the annexeddrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective partially dissected view of a bath accordingto the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 2A respectively show a cross section view and a detailthereof, showing the bath of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section view of the bath of FIG. 1 and ofrespective vibrating means.

With reference at first to FIG. 1, a bath according to the presentinvention is generally indicated with reference numeral 100.

The bath comprises a support 1 made of a foamed polymeric material, forexample foam rubber. In any case, in general such materials arecharacterised by a certain softness and low specific weight.

In order to make the material of which the support is made more waterrepellent, since such foamed polymeric materials are not alwaysperfectly water repellent, the support is advantageously coated with awater repellent outer film 14, for example made with two layers ofpolyurethane coating, of which one is charged with aramid.

Such film can also optionally allow to improve the surface hardness ofthe support, so as to decrease the wear and tear thereof related to thenormal use of the bath.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support is suitable for defining a volume 101inside which water or other liquid intended for the sanitary uses thebath will be used for, and thus inside which the user can plunge, can bereceived.

To this subject, it should be noted that the bath according to thepresent invention can be used, besides household purposes, also by wayof an example in hospitals or in wellbeing centres, and can thereforecontain even liquids other than simple water.

Besides defining the useful volume for receiving the liquid wherein theuser can plunge, support 1 also allows to define a special supportportion of the bath that will allow the positioning of the same onto thefloor or other support surface.

According to a preferred embodiment, the support can further comprisetwo different layers of materials, always foamed polymeric materials butwith different mechanical features, for example the layer being suitablefor defining the volume can be softer than that of the support portion.

It is clear that even other combinations may be provided for suchlayers, optionally present in a number larger than two. In fact, withreference to FIG. 2, as it will be seen hereinafter, a further layer 13at the edges may be provided for making baths with walls havinginclinations even below 90° relative to the bottom.

Thus, with reference again to FIG. 1, the bath according to the presentinvention further comprises a coating 2 of support 1, which covers atleast partly the inner side walls and the bottom of the bath.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, moreover, the coating is mosaic-wise,by a plurality of blocks 21, substantially arranged one next to theother. Blocks 21 further exhibit structural stiffness higher than saidsupport 1, ensuring a greater overall resistance of the structure, beingarranged next to one another so as to make a substantially continuouscoating.

As a consequence, the combination between support and coating will be onthe one hand sufficiently resistant to receive the liquid in volume 101,on the other hand it will not be affected by the problems of accidents,since each block 21 can slightly sink in support 1, thus allowing tocushion any collisions resulting from falls.

According to a preferred embodiment, blocks 21 are made of multilayerwood, especially treated to be water repellent and fire resistant.

In fact, it has been noted that wood allows to obtain optimum aestheticquality, together with sufficient surface resistance and limitedweights.

In any case, it is clear that even other materials may be used, forexample plastic or ceramic materials.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, blocks 21 may be fixed to the support,optionally coated by the film, by means of an adhesive, for examplesilicon based, which allows the adhesion of the blocks without impairingthe softness of the structure in general.

With reference again to FIGS. 1 and 2, it should be also noted that thebath according to the present invention can advantageously exhibitcoating 2 at all the outer surface of the support, both for aestheticalreasons and, as already explained, for improving the mechanical featuresof the entire structure forming the support as a whole.

The bath, moreover, provides special connections to drainages and taps,not shown in the figure, that are suitable for the soft material thesupport is made of.

Such connections can in any case be made in a manner substantiallysimilar to the traditional baths, using special reinforcements of thesupport at such connections to the drainages.

In any case, systems especially devised for effectively adapting to thebath according to the present invention may be provided.

Thus, it should be noted that besides exhibiting excellent features froman accident prevention point of view, the bath according to the presentinvention allows a particularly simple and inexpensive processing,further allowing high customisation of shapes and dimensions.

In fact, the support can be made simply by engraving a block of foamedpolymeric materials, so as to carry out also a non serial processing,without excessive increase of costs.

Always thanks to the combination used, the bath according to the presentinvention also allows maximum easiness of transport, thanks to thelimited specific weight of the materials used.

Moreover, such features are also suitable for making baths of smalldimensions, which can be not connected to the household water system,and put away after use. In this case, the bath will be advantageouslyprovided with special water drainage means.

With reference then to FIG. 3, the bath according to the presentinvention can advantageously comprise at least one vibrating element 3,arranged inside support 1, underneath coating 2, for example made by aneccentric rotating mass.

Since support 1 is made of a soft material, the vibrating element willbe free to carry out the vibrating action, propagating it to the coatingand thus to the user's body.

Such aspect allows to make in a simple manner a massaging bath, whichcan be conveniently used for both household and therapeutic uses.

To this purpose, the bath can be advantageously provided with aplurality of vibrating elements and with a control unit of the same,which allows programming thereof according to different frequencies andintensities, so as to adapt as good as possible to the user's needs.

Besides the vibrating elements, also motors may be envisaged, providedwith special cams that control the movement of the blocks, alwaysthrough support 1, for carrying out an even more localised massagingaction.

Always thanks to the presence of blocks 21, the bath according to thepresent invention can also be conveniently used for chromotherapytreatments, using the action of optical fibres passing between twoadjacent blocks and thus diffusing light in the water.

The present invention has been described so far wit reference topreferred embodiments. It is understood that other embodiments may existthat relate to the same inventive scope, all falling within the scope ofprotection of the following claims.

1. A bath comprising a support of foamed polymeric material,substantially soft, suitable for defining a volume suitable for beingfilled with water or other liquid intended for sanitary purposes,wherein the bath further comprises a coating, for at least partlycovering said support, said coating being made mosaic-wise by aplurality of blocks, said blocks exhibiting structural stiffness higherthan said support.
 2. The bath according to claim 1, wherein said blocksare arranged substantially one next to the other, so that said coatingis suitable for defining a substantially continuous covering surface ofsaid support.
 3. The bath according to claim 1, wherein said coating isarranged for covering side walls and bottom of said bath, said sidewalls and said bottom being suitable for defining said volume suitablefor being filled with water or other liquid.
 4. The bath according toclaim 1, wherein said blocks are made of wood.
 5. The bath according toclaim 1, wherein said support is made by superimposition of differentlayers.
 6. The bath according to claim 5, wherein said support comprisesan outer film of water repellent material.
 7. The bath according toclaim 6, wherein said film comprises two layers of polyurethane coating,one of said two layers being charged with aramid.
 8. The bath accordingto claim 1, wherein said blocks are fixed to said support by anadhesive.
 9. The bath according to claim 1, comprising at least onevibrating element, said vibrating element being immersed in said supportand being suitable for placing said blocks in vibration.
 10. The bathaccording to claim 9, wherein said vibrating elements are present in anumber at least equal to two, being suitable for performing a vibratorymovement reciprocally coordinated by a control unit.
 11. The bathaccording to claim 1, comprising at least one cam element, said camelement being immersed in said support and suitable for being placed inrotation so as to perform a massaging action on the user's body.
 12. Thebath according to claim 1, comprising optical fibres suitable forproducing light between said blocks.